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The company began closing stores in February, but have now brought in restructuring experts at Alvarez & Marsal to save the company.

Homebase has closed 17 branches this year and the business has also axed 303 jobs at its head office in Milton Keynes.

FULL LIST OF PROPOSED CLOSURES

1. Aberdeen Bridge of Don

2. Aberdeen Portlethen

3. Aylesbury

4. Bedford St Johns

5. Bradford

6. Brentford

7. Bristol

8. Canterbury

9. Cardiff Newport Road

10. Croydon Purley Way

11. Droitwich

12. Dublin Fonthill

13. Dublin Naas Road

14. Dundee

15. East Kilbride

16. Exeter

17. Gateshead

18. Grantham

19. Greenock

20. Hawick

21. Inverness

22. Ipswich

23. Limerick

24. London Merton

25. London New Southgate

26. London Wimbledon

27. Macclesfield

28. Oxford Botley Road

29. Peterborough

30. Pollokshaws

31. Poole Tower Park

32. Robroyston

33. Salisbury

34. Seven Kings

35. Solihull

36. Southampton Hedge End

37. Southend

38. Stirling

39. Swindon Drakes Way

40. Swindon Orbital

41. Warrington

42. Whitby

Homebase to close stores: Closures to 80 stores suspected in latest high street tragedy (Image: GETTY)

In a statement, Homebase said: “HHGL Limited (“Homebase”) today announces the next phase of its restructuring plan. The company is to launch a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) and is seeking approval from creditors on a proposed plan to reduce its cost base in the UK and the Republic of Ireland.

“Homebase’s sales performance and profitability declined significantly under the previous ownership over the last two years. In addition, the company has faced an extremely challenging retail trading environment reflecting weak consumer confidence and reduced consumer spending. These factors have had a significant adverse impact on Homebase’s trading position.

“After a comprehensive review, Homebase has concluded that its current store portfolio mix is no longer viable. Rental costs associated with stores are unsustainable and many stores are loss making.

“The CVA enables Homebase to make essential changes to its store portfolio, reducing its cost base and providing a stable platform on which to continue its turnaround.

“Under the terms of the CVA proposal, all creditors receive a better outcome than any other likely alternative.

“It is anticipated that 42 stores will close during late 2018 and early 2019. The proposed changes to the store portfolio will regrettably mean redundancies from those stores earmarked for closure.

“The process is expected to lead to a reduction of up to 1,500 roles, although every effort will be made to redeploy team members within the business where possible.

“All stores in the UK and the Republic of Ireland will remain open for business as usual and this process will have no impact on customer purchases, outstanding orders or any product or service guarantees. The creditors will vote on the CVA on 31 August 2018.”

As Waitrose announces closures across the country. We take a look at the retail giants who have closed high street stores in recent years.

Damian McGloughlin, CEO of Homebase, said: “Launching a CVA has been a difficult decision and one that we have not taken lightly.

“Homebase has been one of the most recognisable retail brands for almost 40 years, but the reality is we need to continue to take decisive action to address the underperformance of the business and deal with the burden of our cost base, as well as to protect thousands of jobs.

“The CVA is therefore an essential measure for the business to take and will enable us to refocus our operations and rebuild our offer for the years ahead.”

Stephanie Pollitt, Assistant Director of Real Estate Policy, British Property Federation (BPF), said: “These situations are never easy as property owners need to take into consideration the impact on their investors, including those protecting their investors’ pensioners’ savings, as they vote on the CVA proposal.

“Homebase and Alvarez & Marsal have, however, demonstrated best practice, engaging with the BPF in the process and therefore ensuring property owners’ interests have been properly taken into account.

“Ultimately, it will be for individual property owners to decide how they will vote on the CVA, but the proposal has sought to find a solution that provides a sustainable future for Homebase."

A number of Twitter users discussed whether the closures were down to Brexit. Some seemed to think Britain’s leaving of the European Union was to blame.

One Twitter user wrote: “Embattled high street sees a 1000 jobs at risk as Homebase owner plans to close 60 stores. Comes as House of Fraser seeks funding to avert collapse with a further 17,500 jobs at risk. Wonder if the staff fancy picking crops, might be only jobs left post #Brexit.”

However, another said: “#Homebase isn’t closing because of Theresa May, or Brexit. It’s closing because people don’t choose to shop there as they will get the exactly same product half the price elsewhere!!!”